A bomb explosion has killed at least 33 people and injured more than 80 in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, police and hospital officials said. Sunday's blast took place in the busy Kissa Khwani market in Peshawar -- gateway to the troubled tribal regions which are infested with Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked fighters. "The blast killed at least 33 people and wounded more than 80 others," top local administration official Sahebzada Muhammad Anis told AFP news agency.
Jamil Shah, spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital, said six children and two women as well as 70 wounded had been brought to the hospital from the blast site.Local officials said the blast took place near a police station but they did not initially believe the station was the intended target.
"Police station does not seem to be the target as it was away from the attack site," bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik said.
"It looks like the market was the target." He said, adding that the evidence suggested it was a remote controlled bomb. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. Violence is on the rise in Pakistan in recent months, undermining Prime Minister Nawab Sharif's efforts of launching peace talks with the Taliban.
Sharif is also due to meet Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sunday, hours after Singh described Pakistan as the "epicentre of terrorism in our region". The blast comes after a twin suicide attack at a church in Peshawar killed 78 people and Friday's bomb attack on a bus triggering fear about further attacks.
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